A twice-flown SpaceX capsule has debuted on public display next to the second Mercury spacecraft to launch an American into Earth orbit and first Apollo command module to fly astronauts to the moon.
The last first-generation Dragon capsule that SpaceX built to ferry cargo to and from the International Space Station went on exhibit on Sunday (May 19), as part of a renovated gallery at the newly renamed Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. A $125 million donation by hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin — the largest contribution in the museum's history — helped to underwrite refreshing the Henry Crown Space Center, including adding the SpaceX display.
"This is the first major renovation to the Henry Crown Space Center since it opened in 1986," said Voula Saridakis, curator at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, in an interview with collectSPACE.com. "Before this, the gallery was current up until the space shuttle and the crewed and uncrewed missions through the 1990s."
"We have now updated all the content," Saridakis said. "It is still an exhibit about space exploration since the 1950s, but now it emphasizes space exploration from the past 20 to 30 years."
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